"Can you use this for life?"

Everything had to be ready to the point when 120 children and young people from the schools in Windisch had to shout quietly in front of several hundred spectators. After babel.everywhere Brigitta Luisa Merki, the director of the Tanz & Kunst Königsfelden festival, realized her second educational project with the Neuenhof school near Baden in 2014; an ambitious one at that, as the younger pupils, i.e. primary school pupils in the 5th and 6th grades, and the school leavers, the 4th secondary and high school pupils, created this unique performance together.

After four months of work in individual, strenuous workshops led by professionals, the final week of rehearsals was dedicated to putting it all together and fine-tuning it, three days in the gym and finally in the unique ambience of the monastery church. Merki crosses boundaries with her projects by bringing together artists from different fields. This year's 90-minute performance was characterized by music (rapper Big Zis and percussionist Gilson de Assis), dance (Patrick Grigo), visual design (Jacqueline Weiss), animated film (Anka Schmid), video projection (Ursula Palla) and visual art (Roman Sonderegger). Merki was responsible for the overall dramaturgy.

Anger, joie de vivre, frustration
What the artists created together with the pupils amazed, delighted and touched in equal measure. It was amazing how the teachers involved grasped the young actors' very own world and drew out their feelings. The title roar softly stands for an inner anger that wants to break out loudly, but is only expressed quietly. Soul turmoil, joie de vivre or frustration were addressed and expressed with artistic means.

Rapper Big Zis compiled statements from the pupils and used them to create a new song: "Wänns da ine brüllt, ghörsch dusse fascht nüt ... brüll liislig vo ine gäg usse ... brüll liislig vo usse gäg ine." She sang this after a funny cartoon intro with two wooden puppets that suggested the feeling of being controlled by others. The entire storyline was based on such associative images, partly represented by video sequences, which cleverly divided up the performance, and partly by hip-hop and body percussion performances by the many actors.
The standard was high, requiring rhythmic confidence, concentration, interaction, acrobatics and dance. "In the beginning, it took a lot of persuasion to motivate the young people," said Merki in her opening speech. According to Merki, the younger ones were quick to get excited, but the school leavers sometimes had their heads in a completely different place: "Why should I do this, can I use it for life?" was a frequently asked question.

In the final rehearsals, such questions of meaning became superfluous, as the participants could feel the "drive" that gripped everyone. Many parents attested to Merki that their child had grown beyond themselves, gained self-confidence and showed new sides in dealing with others. No wonder, one thinks, after experiencing the entertaining, varied and touching evening.
 

Photo: Alex Spichale